They want to know you can actually buy it, not say okay then wait 30 days to see if you qualify for a loan.   

I also qualified for a real estate license in California many years ago, but went another direction. 

Rather than a hard money lender with high costs, have you considered/can you qualify for a personal line of credit?

There's a federal tax incentive:A taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures for a solar system that serves a residence located in the United States that is owned and used as a residence by the taxpayer.The LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water & Power) also offers an incentive which comes in the form of a subsidy for the electricity you do get from the grid.

Hello BP,My name is Alex Hamilton and I work for a tenant screening agency that helps property managers qualify prospective renters.

In my own case I have paid close to 30% on April 15th it helps if you have qualifying expenses

Based on Revenue Procedure 2008-16, we recommend that our clients hold the property for investment for at least 24 months or more, to demonstrate that they have the intent to hold for investment.Once you have held the property for investment for at least 24 months, you can sell it and qualify for a combined 121 Exclusion and 1031 Exchange strategy.You would sell the property, exclude the full $500,000 in capital gains (as a married couple) from your taxable income, and complete a 1031 Exchange on the balance of the transaction to defer the rest of your capital gain, including any depreciation recapture, into the purchase of another rental property.

I applied for a house inspector position, however, it went to someone more qualified.  

The reason that it stayed on the market for so long is because we went through a lot of people that could not qualify.

Not every investor has the ability to buy a home in a distressed condition, hire and manage qualified contractors and then manage and deal with tenants themselves.